1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to pregnane derivatives of the general formula ##STR1## wherein the dotted line --- represents the possibility of there being a double bond and wavy line indicates that the hydroxyl group is either in the .alpha.- or in the .beta.-configuration, and a method of producing the same with the aid of a microbe.
2. Description of the Prior Arts
The pregnane derivatives of the general formula (I) as provided by the present invention are novel compounds not yet described in the literature buy obtainable by allowing a specific microbe to act upon deoxycholic acid and/or a salt thereof. These compounds can be used as starting materials for the synthesis of excellent antiinflammatory corticoids represented by prednisone, prednisolone, hydrocortisone, etc..
The so-far known process for producing prednisone starts with deoxycholic acid and involves twenty-odd steps [L. F. Fieser and M. Fieser: Steroids, pages 634-647, Reinhold, 1959]. However, as the reagents required are expensive and the process is time-consuming, the process is not fully satisfactory for industrial application.
An object of the present invention is to provide novel pregnane derivatives which are useful as starting materials for the synthesis of various corticoids.
Another object of the present invention is to provide novel pregnane derivatives which are useful as advantageous starting materials for the synthesis of prednisone, prednisolone and hydrocortisone.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a method of producing the above-mentioned novel and useful pregnane derivatives.
These objects as well as other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description.